According to the box score, Maryland’s first trip to Baltimore since December 2018 was a great success, and with a completely remade roster. The Terps won, 83-61, over Coppin State, with their best basketball
coming in the final minutes to send fans back across the state feeling happy.
However, it was far from a comfortable game on the court. The Terps are clearly still developing cohesion and getting adjusted to game speed. Head coach Buzz Williams routinely shuffled the rotation, trying — and not always succeeding — to find the best combination of players.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
The three-ball production will come
Through nearly 35 minutes of exhibition basketball against UMBC, Maryland attempted just 11 3-pointers and only connected on a single one. Their 5-for-15 mark that day was far from encouraging.
But reports of the deep ball’s demise were greatly exaggerated — for the first half, at least.
Against Coppin State, nine of the Terps’ first 12 shots were 3-pointers. Four of the nine were successful — the Terps couldn’t quite keep up that clip but still finished a respectable 10-for-29 from beyond the arc overall.
The improvement partially came down to the introduction of guards Diggy Coit and Isaiah Watts, who made 38.7% and 34.8% of their 3-point attempts last year, respectively. The pair went a combined 5-for-12 Monday.
However, the most impressive display came from Andre Mills, Maryland’s most impressive player Monday. The redshirt freshman guard had a massive turnaround, making 3-of-4 first-half 3-pointers in a confident display that only served to encourage his coach.
“His ruggedness, his physicality, he really helps us on both sides of the rim,” Williams said.
The sudden improvement made Maryland’s second-half slump far more surprising. For its offense, the main problem through that stretch was those shots suddenly not falling again — the Terps went 2-for-11 from deep in the second half.
Maryland’s 3-point production is only going to get better, with Myles Rice — who spent the exhibition game in a boot — walking around normally during the Coppin State game. And as Watts, Coit and Rice gain more time in the system, the Terps could have six players they trust — the five guards and Elijah Saunders — to take those shots.
Things could get better — but Williams cautioned against shifting the expectations.
“That’s not what we’ll end up being able to do, nor what we would want,” Williams said. “We probably fell prey in the wrong way to thinking that was what we want to be about.”
The defensive production… might not
As much as the Terps looked comfortable with the ball, their play without the ball was a different story.
An emphatic block from Mills — his best play of the night, which is saying something — will garner the attention, but it cannot gloss over the fact that Maryland’s defense did not play well.
Coppin State kept pace with the Terps far too easily for 30 minutes. The Eagles, whose offense entered ranked 364th of 365 Division I schools by KenPom, regularly sliced through the Terps.
“We weren’t guarding the ball, were in rotation, and we weren’t getting stops and able to play in a broken floor,” Williams said.
Maryland struggled to cover the backdoor options once the ball made its way inside, and they didn’t have much success on the glass — they only rebounded Coppin State by five. Solomon Washington’s return will be well-appreciated in the frontcourt, but he remained in a boot Monday — albeit walking on it, not using a scooter. He’ll take some time to get back.
In the second half, the Eagles were able to create several open looks from beyond the arc, whittling down the Maryland lead. A better team likely could have made a meal of the Terps over that stretch.
At the same time, Coppin State also made a few circus shots late in the shot clock that had little business going in the net. The two may average themselves out — the game against Georgetown Friday will be an excellent measuring stick to see just how concerning the defense is.
Great day from the free throw line
In the Testudo Times season preview for Maryland men’s basketball, this writer’s bold prediction was that the Terps would finish bottom of the Big Ten in free throw percentage. Through one game, that take — which, again, was supposed to be bold — has aged like milk.
Maryland went 23-for-25 from the free throw line against Coppin State, taking contact and knocking down the charity shots.
“I do think we will probably need to be in that range in regards to aiding our points per possession, stopping the clock, but just as importantly, getting our defense set,” Williams said.
Darius Adams continued displaying his foul-drawing abilities in particular, earning 12 free throw attempts and making 10 — he was the only Terp to miss on the day.
The biggest factor behind the original, bold prediction for the group was Pharrel Payne, who was a career 52% free throw shooter entering the season. One of his major weaknesses while with Williams at Texas A&M was his liability from the stripe, where teams could send him to lessen his impact.
However, Payne made all nine of his free throws against Coppin State after making eight of 11 against UMBC.
While it’s an impressive stadium, a one-third full CFG Bank Arena is far from the most hostile environment Maryland will play in this season. But if the Terps can maintain their numbers, that is the sort of in-the-margins difference Williams craves that could win Maryland games this season.
